One hour later, Fortun, together with head of sector Hilde Myrberg took the funicular railway up Nausanosi, a rather strange contrivance, but exceedingly useful for reaching high up into the mountains. Anders Fortun had made this trip several thousand times before, using his legs in the winter months to reach the entrance to the tunnel at a height of around 950 meters above sea level.
He is used to striding out into the wilds. His walk to school as a young boy was long and exceptionally steep, and there was no question of being driven.
Living history
Anders Fortun is the last person who can look back on the whole 45-year long history of the Fortun development. It goes back to the middle of the fifties, when an extension of the aluminium plant at Årdal meant more electricity was needed. Fortun, with its chain of mountain lakes provided the ideal basis for a major power development. The water head was around 1000 meters.
When Hydro’s aluminium operation joined forces with Årdal Sunndal Verk in 1986, Fortun was Hydro Energy’s top producing power plant. Today the Skagen power station at Fortun has an annual production of 1.6 TWh.
The Fortun development broke many records for tunnel operations and drilling. New technology came onto the scene. And so did 900 construction workers, bringing new times to this tiny, peaceful mountain community. Anders Fortun puts it like this:
“Before we just tried to survive. After the development of the power plant we could live,” he says. There were new jobs for lots of people, including Anders and his father.
In 1959, Anders was involved in assembling the first turbine in the Skagen power station. He had taken a basic course in mechanical engineering at school, and enjoyed this type of work. The pay was 5 kroner and 72 øre. That was a lot of money for a young lad in those days, he explains.
He later trained as mechanical engineer in Bergen, and returned to work at the power station again.
A real Prussian
“He was a slave driver, but we’ll never forget him. Rommel was his name, the German who was in charge. He was more like a Prussian really, even though he wore a green hat with a feather in it and “Lederhosen”. He walked round with a whistle in his mouth. If he wanted to speak to someone, he blew the whistle, got everyone’s attention and then pointed to the person in question...”
One of young Anders’ tasks was to fetch the German workers their beer. Each week he had to go down to Sogndal and pick up three crates of beer. Not surprisingly he got a bit fed up with this and suggested that they could drink water. “Wasser ist für Turbinen” was the answer. So that was that.
Varied work
Fortun is known as one of the most complex power stations in Norway with a total of 17 magazines, at a height of nearly 1400 meters above sea level. Svartdalsvatn is a three year magazine. The Fanaråk and Smørstab glaciers provide a good inflow, and ensure high power production throughout the year, but also set particular requirements for operations and maintenance.
Anders Fortun has had a wide variety of jobs over the years. He has worked in the control room, has been foreman, planner, has had responsibility for HSE in connection with the upgrade of the plant in the latter half of the nineties, and he has operated the funicular railway up the side of Nausanosi. This has been running since 1965.
For ten years Anders Fortun did shift work at the power plant, and in some ways they were the best of his career. “It was then I had most time to do other things: skiing, grouse hunting, salmon fishing.” He admits he is looking forward to having more free time in his retirement.
Well-kept memories
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge, but not all of it has been forgotten. Anders has kept notes. He turns to the entry for 3 August 1967: dam breach at Ringsdal – perhaps the most serious event he has been involved in.
There were other dramatic incidents. One that could have ended in tragedy was when a gust of wind lifted both him and the snow scooter he was driving up into the air and whipped them round several times.
He closes the book. The story of Skagen and Fortun continues, but Anders Fortun will no longer be playing a main part.
